A 5-year-old boy was killed and more than a dozen others were injured after a motorhome carrying 15 people collided with an SUV and overturned on a Florida highway just days after Christmas.
The two-vehicle crash happened around 5:45 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27, on U.S. Highway 27 in northwest Marion County, just outside Williston, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Investigators said the motorhome was traveling southbound when it struck an SUV heading west on County Road 316. The impact caused the RV to overturn. The child, identified by the Districts 5 & 24 Medical Examiner as Christopher Sandlin of Clark County, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Twelve of the RV’s passengers were taken to nearby hospitals with critical injuries. The 59-year-old woman driving the motorhome suffered minor injuries, authorities said. The SUV was driven by a 25-year-old woman, who was the sole occupant of that vehicle and was hospitalized with critical injuries.
The crash remains under investigation.
The victims were traveling from Clark County, Ohio, where the child attended preschool in the Greenon Local School District. Community members and school officials expressed grief following the tragedy.
“The Greenon Local Schools community is heartbroken following a tragic accident in Florida involving members of our school family,” Superintendent Darrin Knapke said in a statement. “We mourn the loss of Tucker, who was a preschool student at Enon Elementary, and the son and grandson of our staff members at Greenon. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this incredibly difficult time.”
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